Burrell stars as Phillies trounce Dodgers

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- Pat Burrell provided the run support
Cole Hamels had been lacking of late.

Burrell homered and drove in five runs and Hamels tossed seven
solid innings as the Philadelphia Phillies cruised to their
fifth win in six games, a 9-2 triumph over the Los Angeles
Dodgers on Saturday.

Ryan Howard and Shane Victorino each added two RBI as the
Phillies won their second straight over the Dodgers after being
swept of a four-game series at Los Angeles earlier this month.

"Pat was able to spark it," Howard said. "We were able to get
it started early, and Cole went out and did his job and shut
them down."

"We certainly knew we were fortunate out there when we beat them
the four games because they weren't swinging the bats real
well," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said.

Burrell did the bulk of his damage against Clayton Kershaw (2-4)
with a three-run homer in the first inning and an RBI double in
the fifth, when center fielder Matt Kemp lost the ball in the
sun. He tied a career high by driving in his fifth run with a
single in the sixth off Jason Johnson.

"Burrell had a big day with three hits and five RBI," Phillies
manager Charlie Manuel said. "He took advantage when (Kemp)
lost the ball."

It was Burrell's 10th career five-RBI performance.

Hamels (11-8) limited the Dodgers to two runs and five hits.
The lefthander struck out five without a walk, retiring the last
eight batters he faced.

Hamels has tossed at least six innings in 14 of his last 15
starts.

"Cole definitely could have won some more games," Manuel said.
"He's pitched some good ballgames where he got some losses and
where he didn't get any decisions. His record definitely could
be better."

While the game featured a pair of talented young southpaws in
Hamels and the 20-year-old Kershaw, it also was a battle between
two pitchers who have not received much run support this season.

Even though Hamels won his last outing at San Diego, it was only
by a 2-1 margin. Prior to that victory, the 24-year-old went
seven starts without a win, suffering three losses as the
Phillies scored three runs or fewer in five of those games.

"My mind set is to really just focus on preventing runs instead
of watching how many runs we have," Hamels said. "I'm not
necessarily looking at the scoreboard. I go out there and try
to put up zeros. I know if I can do that and we score a couple
of runs here and there, then we'll get the victory."

Hamels has pitched a career-high 188 2/3 innings thus far this
season, surpassing the 183 1/3 he tossed in 2007.

The Dodgers, who have lost four of five, had scored a total of
27 runs for Kershaw in his previous 14 starts - nine of which
resulted in no-decisions.

"We're putting a lot of pressure right now on our pitchers,
based on the fact we're not scoring runs," Torre said.
"(Kershaw) is still learning."

Burrell quickly staked Hamels to a 3-0 lead with his 30th home
run of the season. After Kershaw hit Jimmy Rollins with a pitch
and Chase Utley singled, Burrell lined an 0-1 pitch just inside
the left field foul pole.

"Tried to double up inside on Burrell and he just hit a good
pitch," Kershaw said. "It wasn't over the plate or anything.
It was inside, but he just kept his hands inside of it and kept
it fair. It was a good piece of hitting."

Russell Martin belted his 12th home run, a two-run shot in the
second, to pull the Dodgers within one. However, the Phillies
broke open the game with three runs in the fifth.

Rollins led off with a single and Utley walked before Burrell's
fly ball was lost in the sun by Kemp, allowing a run to score.
Howard then ended Kershaw's day with a two-run double to
right-center that gave the Phillies a 6-2 advantage.

"We had a bad break with Matty losing the ball because the game
was close at that point in time," Torre said. "We all thought
he was trying to deke the baserunners at the time he did it.
You certainly don't want to give this ballclub extra outs
because they can beat your brains out, and they did it again
today."

Kershaw was tagged for six runs and seven hits in four-plus
innings. He walked two, struck out five and hit a batter.

The Phillies tacked on three runs in the sixth against Johnson.
Victorino's two-run single capped the uprising after Burrell's
RBI base hit.